ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Finalization of Draft Rules on Sale of Drugs by E-Pharmacies
The Government has published draft rules vide G.S.R. 817  dated 28th August 2018 for inviting public/stakeholder comments for amendment to the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 for incorporating provisions relating to regulation of sale and distribution of drugs through e-pharmacy. A large number of suggestions/ comments have been received from the stakeholders, which are being examined. At the same time, the matter is subjudice before various Hon’ble High Courts in the country. Therefore, no timeline for finalization of the rules can be provided.
Under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act and Rules, sale of spurious drugs is a punishable offence and State Licensing Authorities are empowered to take action in this regard. Accordingly, the complaints as received, are referred to State Licensing Authorities for taking action as per the provisions of the Act and Rules.
The Minister of State , Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey stated this in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha here today.
Ministry of Home Affairs
NDMA to conduct national workshop on heat wave risk reduction
Calls for Early Warning, Early Action
The National Disaster Management Authority  is conducting a two-day national workshop on heat wave risk reduction on 27-28 February, 2019. The workshop, to be held at Nagpur, has been organised in collaboration with the Maharashtra Government.
Heat wave has emerged as one of the major severe weather events around the globe in recent years. Climate change is driving temperatures higher as well as increasing the frequency and severity of heat waves. India too is experiencing increased instances of heat waves every year.
NDMA has been closely working with vulnerable States to reduce the adverse impacts of heat wave.
Sustained efforts - timely release and effective implementation of the national Guidelines on heat wave, preparation of Heat Action Plans by 13 vulnerable States, regular follow-up and monitoring by NDMA, extensive awareness generation campaigns through print, electronic and social media, preparedness workshops in 2017 and 2018 - have significantly brought down the number of heat-related deaths in the past few years. From more than 2,000 deaths in 2015, the number came down to 25 in 2018.
In this backdrop, this workshop aims to sensitise the States to the need of preparing and implementing specific Heat Action Plans. Some of the most vulnerable States, which have done a commendable job in mitigating the impact of heat waves, will share their experiences and best practices to help other stakeholders draw lessons.
It will also provide an opportunity for community capacity building and awareness generation among vulnerable populations. The workshop will also discuss the integration of long-term heat risk reduction measures into developmental plans as well as Climate Change Adaptation.
The workshop will be attended by experts on heat wave as well as other stakeholders such as early warning and forecasting agencies, State governments and research institutions apart from Members and senior officials from NDMA.
Election Commission
Bye Election to the Council of States from West Bengal
There is a casual vacancy in the Council of States from West Bengal as per following details: -
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State
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Name of Members
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Reason
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Date of vacancy
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Term Up to
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West Bengal
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Shri Dinesh Trivedi
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Resignation
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12.02.2021
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02.04.2026
2. The Commission has decided to hold bye-election to the Council of States from West Bengal to fill up the above-mentioned vacancy in accordance with the following schedule: -
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S. No
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Events
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Dates
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Issue of Notifications
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22nd July, 2021 
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Last date of making nominations
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29th July, 2021 
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Scrutiny of nominations
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30th July, 2021 
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Last date for withdrawal of candidatures
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02nd August, 2021 
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Date of Poll
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09th August, 2021 
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Hours of Poll
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09:00 am-04:00 pm
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Counting of Votes
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09th August, 2021  at 05:00 pm
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Date before which election shall be completed
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10th August, 2021 
3. Broad Guidelines to be followed during entire election process for all persons: -
I. Every person shall wear face mask during every election related activity
II. At the entry of hall/ room/ premises used for election purposes:
 Thermal Scanning of all persons shall be carried out:
 Sanitizer shall be made available at all locations
III. Social distancing shall be maintained as per the extant COVID-19 guidelines of the State Govt. and Ministry of Home Affairs.
4. The Chief Secretary, West Bengal is being directed to depute a senior officer from the State to ensure that the extant instructions regarding COVID-19 containment measures are complied with while making arrangements for conducting the said bye election.
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
Aspiring Actors should train themselves as Olympic athletes: Hrithik Roshan
Magic happens when actor understands the madness of a character
Panaji, 21 November 2021
“There exist some kind of madness in every character. The real magic happens when one actor understands this madness”, said Bollywood Superstar Hrithik Roshan at a virtual In-Conversation Session of 52nd International Film Festival of India today.
Hrithik said that one actor first needs to resonate the character within himself and establish a strong connection. “I feel the emotions I play. Usually the emotions are real as I take them from my own life and experiences”, he added.
Advising the aspiring actors he said, “They should treat themselves like Olympic athletes. They need to put their hard work in training and practice every day and surround themselves with cine lovers.”
Talking about the importance of OTT platforms, the Superstar said, “All kinds of people in our social environment needs to be properly represented in Cinema. With the emergence of OTT platforms, there is a wide scope for all actors and filmmakers. How wonderful it is when each actor has an opportunity to be a Superstar! ”
Responding to a query he said, “Sometimes after completion of a film, it’s difficult to unlearn and forget few characters which has deep rooted impression upon you. It’s disheartening to unlearn the characters of Koi Mil Gaya and Kaabil.”
Attending the session Writer and Director Siddharth Anand said that directing a film is a long and wholesome process. “The Director needs to crack the story first. Then he has to look after scripting, dialogue, selection of actors, screenplay and a whole lot of things”, he added.
The In-Conversation Session was moderated by noted Bollywood trade analyst Komal Nahta.TEAM IFFI PIB | NT/SSP/DR/IFFI-39
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Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
Scheme of ‘Skill Development in Districts Affected by Left Wing Extremism ’ supports establishment of 48 ITIs in 48 LWE affected Districts
Under Skill India Mission, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship  implements schemes for imparting skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling services through a comprehensive network of skill development centres/institutes across the country including rural areas under various schemes viz. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana , Jan Shikshan Sansthan , National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme  and Craftsmen Training Scheme  through Industrial Training Institutes . The brief of these schemes is as under:
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana : PMKVY is a demand-driven Scheme for imparting skill development training through Short-Term Training  and Recognition of Prior Learning  to youth across all States/ Union Territories .
Jan Shikshan Sansthan  Scheme: The main target of the JSS is to impart vocational skills to the non-literates, neo-literates and the persons having rudimentary level of education upto 8th standard and school dropouts upto 12th standard in the age group of 15-45 years, with due relaxation in case of “Divyangjan” and other deserving cases. Priority is given to Women, SC, ST, OBC and Minorities.
National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme : This Scheme is for promoting apprenticeship training and increasing the engagement of apprentices by providing financial support to industrial establishments undertaking apprenticeship programme under the Apprentices Act, 1961. Training consists of Basic Training and On-the-Job Training / Practical Training at workplace in the industry.
Craftsmen Training Scheme : This scheme is for providing long-term training through Industrial Training Institutes  across the country. The ITIs offer a range of vocational/skill training courses covering a large number of economic sectors with an objective to provide skilled workforce to the industry as well as self-employment of youth.
National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development , Noida and Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship , Guwahati, under MSDE are actively engaged in promoting Entrepreneurship through training, consultancy, research, etc.
As stated above, programmes for skill development and promotion of entrepreneurship are implemented throughout the country including in the border areas. In addition, scheme of Skill Development in Districts Affected by Left Wing Extremism  supports establishment of 48 ITIs in 48 Districts affected by LWE. This includes 9 Districts of Chhattisgarh, namely Dantewada, Bastar, Kanker, Surguja, Rajnandgaon, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Sukma and Kodagaon.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Finance
Strategic Disinvestment of Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited  completed
Tata Steel Long Products Limited takes over NINL
Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited  is a Joint Venture of 4 CPSEs, namely MMTC , NMDC , BHEL , MECON  and 2 Odisha Government PSUs, namely OMC  and IPICOL .
MNINL Strategic Disinvestment transaction has been completed today with the transfer of 93.71% shares of the Joint Venture Partners  to the Strategic Buyer, M/s Tata Steel Long products Limited. The Enterprise Value paid by the Strategic Buyer is Rs. 12,100 Crores. This payment has been utilized as per the SPA for settlement of dues of employees, operational creditors, secured financial creditors and sellers  and for equity of selling shareholders as per SPA.
Following approval of the highest price bid of M/s Tata Steel Long Products Limited on 31st January, 2022, the Letter of Award  was issued to the winning bidder on 2nd February, 2022.The Share Purchase Agreement  was signed on 10th March, 2022. Thereafter, the Strategic Partner, NINL and the six Selling Shareholders worked towards satisfying a set of conditions defined in the SPA including certification of operational creditor’s dues, employees’ dues, Sellers’ operational dues and Sellers’ financial dues. These conditions have since been met to mutual satisfaction.
Office of Principal Scientific Advisor to GoI
Science and Technology in the Union Budget 2022
Webinar will bring together industry, academia, and 16 ministries/departments of the Government of India to discuss implementation steps
Prime Minister to address the Plenary Session
The Government of India is organizing a series of webinars across various sectors to facilitate the efficient implementation of announcements made by the Finance Minister under Union Budget 2022. The webinar series is bringing experts from the public and private sectors, academia, and industry, on a single platform, to ideate on implementation strategies across sectors.
The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser  along with several scientific ministries and departments of the Government of India will organize a webinar titled “Technology-enabled development” on March 2, 2022. The webinar will start with the Hon’ble Prime Minister addressing the plenary session. The second part of the webinar will have four thematic breakaway sessions led by the Department of Telecommunications , Department of Scientific and Industrial Research , Department of Science and Technology , and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology . The sessions will have participants from various Ministries and Departments of the Government of India, academia, and industry. The sessions will focus on the following themes:
- S&T initiatives in prominent technology areas
- Potential for job creation/boosting employability
- Technological self-reliance
- Plan for achieving the vision of Amrut Kaal - India @2047
- Suggested course of action, while reducing the compliance burden
The third part of the webinar will have the Secretaries and Ministers of the above Departments discussing action points from the breakaway sessions and charting the way ahead towards implementation
Find the details of the event at https://events.negd.in/
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
Prime Minister to inaugurate 25th National Youth Festival on 12th January
National Youth Festival Activities in Maharashtra aimed at benefiting more than 5 lakh Youth
Mumbai, 11 January 2022
Several events have been planned to mark the National Youth Day, celebrated on 12th January every year to honour the ideals and thoughts of social reformer and philosopher Swami Vivekananda.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 25th National Youth Festival being held in Puducherry, via video conferencing tomorrow, January 12, 2022. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival will be held virtually. The inauguration will be followed by the National Youth Summit which aims to galvanize, ignite, unite and activate the youth towards nation building, to unleash the true potential of our demographic dividend.
As part of the celebration of National Youth Week during January 12 – 19, 2022, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangthan Maharashtra and Goa is conducting a slew of activities, including blood donation camps, debates and seminars. Some of the indicative activities are as follows:
- 12 January  - Blood donation camps at various places
- 13 January  - Community singing, Local folklore, puppet show etc.
- 14 January  - Essay, Elocution and Painting Competitions amongst Youth on relevant subjects
- 15 January  - Social programmes in villages relating to involvement of Youth club members and volunteers; sanitation drives
- 16 January  - Sports events, programmes relating to promotion of adventure
- 17 January  – Lectures, street-plays
- 18 January  – Product and photo exhibitions
- 19 January  – Address to youth by prominent personalities, film shows, prize distribution
In all, around 250 cultural activities, painting competitions; 58 blood donation camps; more than 800 essay and elocution competitions and 165 online Yoga sessions and other activities are planned to be held.
Most of the activities will be conducted in virtual mode to avoid the spread of the COVID-19 infection. Utmost care will be taken during physical events like blood donation. The programme aims to benefit more than 5 lakh youth in different ways:
In addition to this, as a tribute to the great visionary Swami Vivekananda, Films Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is screening two documentaries “The Life and Messages of Swami Vivekananda” and “You Are The Creator of Your Own Destiny”. The documentaries highlight Vivekananda’s inspirational and thought-provoking life and messages and can be watched on the Films Division YouTube channel youtube.com/filmsdivision. Details Here.
Press Information Bureau, Mumbai and Nehru Yuva Kendra Sanghathan jointly organised a webinar on 'Youth and Nation-building: Relevance of Swami Vivekananda's Teachings” today, 11th January 2022. The aim of the webinar is spread awareness and kindle inspiration from the great thoughts and life of Swami Vivekananda. Details Here.
Ministry of Finance
Auction for Sale  of  ‘GoI Floating Rate Bond 2028’,  ‘6.10% GS 2031’, and  ‘6.95% GS 2061’
The Government of India  has announced the Sale  of
 ‘‘GoI Floating Rate Bonds, 2028’ for a notified amount of ₹4,000 crore  through price based auction using uniform price method;  ‘6.10% Government Security, 2031’ for a notified amount of ₹13,000 crore  through price based auction using uniform price method; and  ‘6.95% Government Security 2061’ for a notified amount of ₹7,000 crore  through price based auction using multiple price method. GoI will have the option to retain additional subscription up to ₹2,000 crore each against one or more security/ies. The auctions will be conducted by the Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai Office, Fort, Mumbai on Friday i.e. December 31, 2021.
Up to 5% of the notified amount of the sale of the Securities will be allotted to eligible individuals and institutions as per the Scheme for Non-Competitive Bidding Facility in the Auction of Government Securities.
Both competitive and non-competitive bids for the auction should be submitted in electronic format on the Reserve Bank of India Core Banking Solution  system on December 31, 2021. The non-competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30 a.m. and 11.00 a.m.and the competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30 a.m. and 11.30 a.m.
The result of the auctions will be announced on December 31, 2021  and payment by successful bidders will be on January 03, 2022 .
The Securities will be eligible for “When Issued” trading in accordance with the guidelines on ‘When Issued transactions in Central Government Securities’ issued by the Reserve Bank of India vide circular No. RBI/2018-19/25 dated July 24, 2018 as amended from time to time.
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
MoS  Dr Jitendra Singh presides over the 317th Executive Council meeting of the Indian Institute of Public Administration  as its new Chairman
Union MoS  DoNER, MoS  Dr Jitendra Singh today presided over the 317th Executive Council meeting of the Indian Institute of Public Administration  as its new Chairman.
Pertinent to mention that the post of Chairman IIPA had fallen vacant after the demise of T N Chaturvedi, a 1949 batch IAS officer, former Comptroller & Auditor General  of India and former Governor, who had taken over as Chairman of the IIPA in 2004 and continued to hold this position for sixteen years till his death on 5th January 2020.
The proceedings of the Executive Council meeting today were conducted by S N Tripathi, former Secretary in Government of India and presently Director IIPA, who has been hereafter re-designated as Chief Executive Officer  of the IIPA.
Among the members of the Executive Council who attended the meeting were Amitab Kant CEO NITI Aayog, ShekharDutt former Governor Chhattisgarh, Professor Raj Kumar Vice Chancellor Punjab University, Professor G B Prasad Vice Chancellor Tripura University, Dr G Kurup Secretary Kerala Regional IIPA Branch, Vijay Satbir Singh Secretary Maharashtra IIPA Regional Branch, S C Mishra Chairman Odisha IIPA Regional Branch, K K Pandey Professor IIPA, RashmiChoudhary Additional Secretary Department of Personnel & Training , V. Padmanabhan Deputy Secretary Department of Expenditure and Amitabh Ranjan, Registrar IIPA.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh expressed his thanks to the Executive Council Members for having entrusted him with the responsibility of the Chairman of IIPA and hoped that with their support and guidance he will be able to do his best and live up to their expectations.
In his first Executive Council Meeting after taking over as Chairman, Dr Jitendra Singh made the important announcement that the Life Membership of IIPA will be thrown open w.e.f. 1st January 2021. He also called upon more number of serving officers to take up the membership of IIPA and noted that the government service rules do not forbid a serving official to become a member of IIPA.
Appreciating the hard work of IIPA faculty and officials, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the best evidence of their commitment and diligence came out during the difficult times of COVID pandemic when IIPA established a digital classroom for conducting online classes and did not allow the curriculum to be disrupted. He said, it is not a small achievement that IIPA conducted as many as 14 online training programmes for officers from different services during the lockdown and post-lockdown period. Not only this, 62 Research Projects were also completed during the last one year in spite of the COVID constraints, he said.
Dr Jitendra Singh hoped that various State Branches and Chapters of the IIPA will also take a cue and extend their programmes through both virtual and semi-virtual means. He also suggested collaboration with more number of Universities and Academic bodies in order to widen the spectrum and range of IIPA curriculum.
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NITI Aayog
NITI Aayog to Hold National Workshop on Bamboo Development
NITI Aayog is organizing a daylong national-level workshop on bamboo development tomorrow, 30 December.
NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar, Minister of State  of the Ministry of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Dr Jitendra Singh, NITI Aayog Member Dr VK Saraswat and CEO Amitabh Kant will inaugurate the workshop.
Several stakeholders from India and abroad will attend the workshop to understand the opportunities and challenges in bamboo development, explore missing linkages in the entire value-chain of the bamboo sector, and accordingly develop strategies and a roadmap for the sector.
The workshop will have four technical sessions. First on ‘Production, Value Addition and International Experience of Bamboo’, second on ‘Government Policies, Programmes and Opportunities in Different Sectors’, third on ‘Circular Economy in Bamboo’, and the final session on ‘National and International Best Practices’.
To scale up the utilization and commercialization of bamboo, NITI Aayog is in the process of formulating pragmatic policies/technologies for the holistic development of the Indian bamboo industry. Accordingly, a techno-commercial report, ‘Bamboo Development Mission Document’, is being prepared for this purpose. The report plans to analyse the complete bamboo value-chain in India—from plantation, production, processing to standardization and utilization.
NITI’s efforts to tap into the potential of the bamboo sector are geared towards generating more employment in the rural economy, doubling farmers’ income, improving value addition and diversification of bamboo products to give a fillip to exports.
The workshop will be broadcasted here.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Accelerated increase in lab infrastructure continues to drive the ‘Test Track and Treat’ strategy
More than 1.5 Cr COVID-19 samples tested so far
More than 1.5 crore COVID samples  have been tested, till now. In the last 24 hours 3,52,801 samples have been tested for COVID-19 identification.
This translates to 11179.83 tests per million  for India, which has seen a steady increase since the adoption of this strategy.
The rise in TPM has been achieved with a steady rise in the number of labs , and efforts by the Centre and State/UT governments to facilitate wide-spread testing through an array of options.
The RT-PCR labs are the backbone of the latest testing strategy prescribed by ICMR. The number of labs in the public and private sectors are seeing a progressive enhancement. There are 897 labs in the government sector and 393 private labs. The details are as follows:
• Real-Time RT PCR based testing labs: 653 
• TrueNat based testing labs: 530 
• CBNAAT based testing labs: 107 
For all authentic & updated information on COVID-19 related technical issues, guidelines & advisories please regularly visit: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ and @MoHFW_INDIA.
Technical queries related to COVID-19 may be sent to technicalquery.covid19[at]gov[dot]in and other queries on ncov2019[at]gov[dot]in and @CovidIndiaSeva .
In case of any queries on COVID-19, please call at the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare helpline no.: +91-11-23978046 or 1075 . List of helpline numbers of States/UTs on COVID-19 is also available at
https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/coronvavirushelplinenumber.pdf .